Coin-controlled apparatus



Mamh 25, 1941. F. H. osBoRNE 2,236,198

v COIN-CONTROLLED APPARATUS Filed Sept. l5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f7 al @ez 6'! March 25, 1941. F. H. osBoRNE COIN-CONTROLLED AYPARATUS Filed Sept. 15, 1937 2 SheGtS-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. I 25, 1941 UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFCE 2,236,198 p com-communi) APPARATUS ma n. Osborne, Snyder, N. Y., assigner ai The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, North Tona- Wanda, N. Y., a corporation oi' Ohio This invention relates generally to coin-controlled devices but more particularly toa multiple coin device wherein a number oi coins of diiler ent denominationsmay be deposited at one time 5 to control the operation of a phonograph, vending machine or like apparatus.

One of its objects is to provide a multiple coin device of this character which is simple,.compact and inexpensive in construction, which is positive 1,0v and reliable in operation, and whose parts are not liable to get out of order.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a multiple coin devicedesigned and constructed for operation in conjunction with a maga- 15- zine switch' whereby the coin valueV inserted in the device is accordingly registered in the maga-` zine switch.

Other features oi the invention reside in the -construction and arrangement of parts herein- 2Q. after described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a'f'ront elevation of the coin-controlled device embodying my invention showing 25 it in connection with a magazine switch such as is employed in connection with an automatic phonograph. Figure 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken substantially in the plane of linev 2-2, Figure 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged front 39 elevation of the multiple coin device showingthe parts in an operative position and tripped4 by a nickel. Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the operative relation of the coins in the revolving carrier with the tripping fingers. Figure 5 335 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view show.-

ing the manner in which the coins are delivered "to the coincarrler. Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing the position of the parts for preventing the latching of the motorfio, switch when a coinis present in the coin chute.

Similar characters 'of reference indicate cor'- responding parts throughout the several views.

' In its general organization, my invention embodies a revolvable multiple coin-carrier adapt- ?,15 ed to recelVenickeIS; dimes and quarters from corresponding registering coin chutes, means for effecting the rotation of the 'can-ier upon' the deposit ci a coin, a series of switch-tripping levers` disposed in a .predetermined relation in 59 the path of the coins in the coin-carriers for eiecting the closing of a switch one or lmore times depending von the coin value inserted in the device, the switch being tripped once-by a nickel, twice by a dime and live times by ,a 55 quarter, and a magazine switch included in the circuit of the coin-actuated switch for registrare ing therein the corresponding number of switch closing impulses transmitted by the coins de= posited inthe revolving carrier.

Referring new to the drawings, it indicates ii a supporting plate or frame on which the working parts of the coin-controlled device are mounted and which may be fastened in any appropriate manner to the phonograph or other apparatus on which the device is intended to be usedA At l@ its upper end this plate "s provided with a mul= tiple coin chute Il having a plurality of coin;- slots i2, l and il disposed side by side thereon for receiving, say, nickels, dimes and quarters, respectively. Disposed below and in movable reen lation to. the discharge end of the coin chute is the coin-carrier for receiving the coins therefrom, this carrier being preferably in the form of a revolvable drum I5 xed on a horizontal shaft le journaied in the plate io and adapted 2@ to be driven at predetermined times, as when a coin is inserted in the chute, by an electric motor Il connected to such shaft by a worm i8, worm wheel I9 and speed-reducing gears 2li and 2t. Included in the circuit of this drum-coursing 25 motor is va normally open switch 22 whose mov Aable contact is applied to a vertically-swinging lever 23 pivoted at 24 to the plate III and normally held in its open position, shown in Figure 1, by aspring-pressed latchng pawlor keeper 3Q 25 having its tall 26 in abutting contactwith the lower end of a-manually-actuated push rod 2l guided in lugs 28 mounted on said plate and hav- -in'g a spring 29 applied thereto for constantly urging it to its elevated or switch-opening posi@ 3@ tion. When the push md is depressed, after de-A positing a coin or coins in the chute il, it reu leases the latching pawl 25 from the shouldered and beveled end 3l oi' the switch lever 23 and causes the pawl-spring 3i, which is connected at one end to such lever and` at its other end to the pawl, to be strained suiilciently to swing the lever 23 to switch-closing position, thereby starting the motor I1. Upon releasing the push rod 21, it is restored to its initial elevated position by its springv 28 and at the same time the pawl 2l is urged by itsspring 3| against thebeveled end of the switch lever where it is ready, after a revolving operating cycle of the carrier i5, to latch and retain such lever in open position when tripped thereto by a pin or projection 32 applied to the face of the carrier. This tripping pin is -rendered operative to open the switch after the coins inserted in the chute have been transferred by the carrier to their point of discharge. E5

The carrier-drum is of a width to span the discharge ends of the respective coin-slots I 2, I3 and It to normally close such slots, and formed in its periphery are coin-receiving pockets 33, 34 and 35 disposed in substantially staggered fashion or at different radially spaced points on the drum and in vertical planes for alining registration with the respective coin-slots to successively receive the coins as the druml revolves past the coin chute, it being understood that until a given pocket is alined with its companion coinslot, the coin will rest at the bottom of the slot in contact with the drum-periphery. 'I'hese pockets are of a cross-section to receive the respective coins and are shallower or of less height than the diameter of the coins, so that when seated in the pockets the coins protrude beyond the drum-periphery in the manner shown in Figure 3, the coins functioning, as will presently appear, as tappet elements, to trip one or another of a plurality of switch-controlling levers.

Disposed at one side of the carrier-drum I5 for operative engagement by the coins are a plurality of independent, vertically-swinging trip or coin-engaging levers 36, 31 and 38 pivoted on companion pivots and disposed in Vertical alinement one above another on the supporting plate IB, ve of such levers being shown in the drawings, by way of example, to accommodate the quarter or largest denomination coin used in the device. Each of these levers is provided adjacent its inner end with a transversely-extending pin D which normally bears and rests by gravity upon the contiguous portion or face of the drum in the manner depicted in Figure 1, so as to be in the tripping path of a given coin or coins in the carrier-drum. The trip-pin of the uppermost'l or nickel-contacting lever 36 is longer than those of the other levers and extends practically the full width of the drum to be engaged in the moving path of a nickel, dime or quarter deposited in the carrier. The trip-pin 4U of the next-adjoining or dime-contacting lever 31 is somewhat shorter than the nickel trip-pin and is of a length to extend over that portion of the drum embracing the dirne and quarter pockets 34, 35 but clears the nickel pocketI 33. The trip pins of the remaining lowerrnost set of levers 38, three in number, are somewhat shorter than the dime trip-pin and are of a uniform length to extend over and be in the path of movement of the quarter pocket 35 but clear both the nickel and dime pockets 33 and 3d, respectively. At their outer ends the respective levers 36, 31 and 38 terminate in laterally-bent lugs 4I which engage companion slots 52 in an upright shifting bar 53 guided for limited vertical movementI on the plate Ithrough screw and slot connections M, t5, respectively. This bar is shifted upwardly in response to the cointripping movements imparted to the trip levers and its upper end engages thelmovable element t5 of a coin-registering switch il which is included in the circuit of the magazine switch mechanism indicated generally by the numeral 138. By this construction, whenever a coin in the carrier I5 trips a corresponding lever or levers 36, 37er 38, it swings that lever, or successive levers in its path, in a direction to elevate the bar t3 one or more times ,to the positionshown by full lines in Figure 3 and, after each tripping, momentarily close the switch t5, 5l. After the closing of the switch in each instance and when the tripping coin recedes from the trip pin of a given lever, the bar 43 is again restored to its initial aeaaioe position by gravity and the spring pressure inherent in the movable switch element d6, simultaneously moving the coin-engaged lever inwardly against the periphery of the coin-carrier I5 in position for successive trippings if called upon to do so by the coins contained in the carrier. From the foregoing, it will be understood that for each nickel value contained in the carrier, there .is a corresponding closing of the switch 46, 41, and if a nickel, dime and quarter (forty cents) are placed in the coin slot and discharged into the corresponding carrier-pockets 33, 56 and 35, such switch is closed eight successive times and these kswitch-closing impulses are registered in the magazine switch mechanism 48.

While the magazine switch mechanism may be of any well known construction, that shown in the drawings consists of a ratchet wheel 5 having a pin 5I thereon engageable with a trip 52 for opening, at a predetermined time, the switch 53 connected, say, to the motor circuit of an automatic coin-controlled phonograph or other instrument. Cooperating with the ratchet wheel to advance the same one tooth in a counterclockwise direction for each closing of the triplever controlled switch 46, 41, is a feed or escapement pawl 54 normally held in arresting engagement with such wheel by a spring 55 and actuated in the opposite direction about its pivot for wedge-like engagement with the inclined edge of an adjoining ratchet wheel tooth to propel the wheel one tooth by an electromagnet 55 included in the circuit of the switch H6, 47, such pawl having an extension 57 which serves as an armature. For each energizing impulse transmitted to the electromagnet by the closing of the trip-lever controlled switch and the corresponding advancement of the ratchet wheel, the switch control pin 5I recedes from the trip 52 a distance of one tooth. A pawl or detent 58 is provided for turning the ratchet wheel in the opposite or 'clockwise direction in step by step fashion after each record of a. phonograph, for example, is played, such pawl being actuated in any appropriate manner by a moving part of the phonograph, as by a crank arm 59 and link 60 operatively connected to the phonograph so as to move the ratchet one tooth after each recordselection is rendered.

In order to insure the switch 22 being maintained closed after depressing the push rod 2, when there is more than one coin initially inserted in any one or more of the coin slots I2, I3 or lli, and to assure the continued operation of the coin-carrier I5 and the patrons receiving the proper value `for the coins deposited, I provide an automatic means rendered operative by the presence of more than one coin in any one of the chute-slots, for maintaining the switchlatching pawl 25 out of operative engagement with the switch lever 23, so that when the latter is automatically tripped by the carrier-pin 32 to an open position it will immediately return to switch-closing position by the spring 3l, thereby maintaining the circuit of the motor I'I and propelling the coin-carrier I5 continuously until the coin chute is clear. This means, by preference, consists of a vertically-swinging rock lever 5I pivoted at 52 to the coin chute II and having an oiset coin-engaging or feeler arm B3 at its lower end which is adapted for projection into and out of contact with the peripheral edge of the coin, as shown in Figures 3, 5 and 6. This oiset feeler arm is free to move into and out of coin-engagement in a notch or recess 6l formed at the lower side edge of the chute as seen in Figures 3 and 5. The rock lever Il is connected by a link 65 to the upper end of a vertically-swinging lever 56 pivoted intermediate its ends at 6`I to the plate I0 at one side of the coin-carrier I5 and has a slot B8 in its lower end engaging a pin 53 on the switch-latching pawl 25. When the push-rod 21 is depressed to effect the closing of the switch 22 and start the motor Il to revolve the carrier I5, the coupling pin 59 on the pawl 25 causes the lever 6I to be swung therewith from the dotted line position to the full line position shown in Figure 3, thereby rocking the feeler arm 63 outwardly or in a direction to disengage it from contact with the lowerrnost coins in the coin chute and permitting such coins to drop by gravity into the respective pockets of the coin-carrier. When the discharge cycle of the coin-carrier has been completed, assuming, rst, that there was a minimum of one coin in each coin slot, the trip pin 32 on the carrier encounters the switch lever 23 and restores the switch 22 to its open position, at the same time causing the latching pawl 25 to move into latching engagement with the beveled end of the switch lever and returning the lever 58 to its initial position to again bring the coincontacting arm 6I into position for feeling contact with additional coins inserted in the coin chute. Assume now, that there is more than one coin in any one or more of the coin slots I2, I3 or I4. It then becomes necessary to automatically maintain the switch 22 closed until such time as the last coins remaining in the slots have been discharged from the carrier and their proper value registered in the magazine switch 46. This is automatically effected by the feeler-arm 63, which, by contact with a coin in the coin chute, maintains the lever B6 in a position to retain the latching pawl 25 from engagement with the switch lever 23 or suiiiciently remote therefrom so that when the trip pin 32 on the coin-carrier I5 trips such switch lever to an open position, it returns immediately to closed position by its spring 3 I.

The lever 66 has a nger `III projecting therefrom toward the coin-carrier I5 which is adapted, at a predetermined time in the movement of such carrier, to contact an arcuate cam or segment II applied to the carrier to rock the lever 68 in a direction to temporarily withdraw the feeler-arm 63 from contact with any coin or coins present in the coin chute Before the carrier comes to the end of its revolving cycle, however, the nger 'III drops orf the cam to allow the feeler-arm to return to its coin-contacting position.

Referring to Figure 1 wherein the parts are shown in switch-opening position, it will be noted that the rock lever 6I with its feeler arm 63 is disposed in the position wherein the feeler arm extends so as to intercept an initial coin or coins inserted therein and supports the coin above the carrier I5 until such time as the push rod 2'I is depressed to effect the closing of the switch 22 and the retraction of the feeler arm from beneath the coin or coins in the coin chute and permit them to then drop by gravity onto the peripheral surface of the coin-carrier.

I claim as my invention:

1. A coin-controlled device of the character described, comprising a movable coin-carrier having pockets therein disposed in staggered fashion for receiving coins of diil'erent denominations, said pockets being shallower than the respective coins whereby the latter protrude beyond the surface of the carrier, coin-engaging means normally disposed in surface contact with said carrier and correlated with the respective coin-pockets for bridging relation withone ormore of them and for independent operation to a tripping position when encountered by the respective coins borne by the carrier, and a member operatively connected to said coin-engaging means for actuation thereby when moved to a tripping position.

2. A coin-controlled device of the character described, comprising a movable coin-carrier having pockets therein disposed in staggered fashion for receiving coins of different denominations, said pockets being shallower than the respective coins whereby the latter protrude beyond the surface of the carrier, coin-engaging means normally disposed in surface contact with said carrier and rendered operative to a tripping position when encountered by the coins borne by the carrier, said means including a plurality of independently movable members vpivoted in a row adjacent the periphery and substantially in the plane of the carrier and having portions in bridging relation with one or more of said carrier-pockets and arranged to successively operatively engage one or more of the respective coins contained in the carrier, and a member common to and operatively connected to each of said independently movable members for actuation thereby in response to their trip movements.

3. A coin-controlled device of the character described, comprising a movable coin-carrier having pockets therein disposed in staggered fashion for receiving coins of diiferent denominations, said pockets being shallower than the respective coins whereby the latter protrude beyond the surface of the carrier, a plurality of independently movable coin-actuated levers disposed in surface Contact therewith and rendered operative to a tripping position when encountered by the coins borne by said carrier, some of said levers having portions disposed for operative bridging engagement with one or more of the respective coins contained in the carrier and others having portions disposed for operative engagement with but one of the respective coins, and a member operatively connected to each of said independently movable levers for actuation thereby in response to their trip movements.

4, A coin-controlled device of the character described, comprising a movable coin-carrier having pockets therein disposed in staggered fashion for receiving coins oi' different denominations, said pockets being shallower than the respective coins whereby the latter protrude beyond the surface of the carrier, means for initiating the movement of said carrier, means for arresting its movement at a predetermined time, coin-engaging means normally disposed in surface contact with the carrier for operation during its movement and correlated with the respective coin-pockets for bridging relation with one or more of them and for independent operation to a tripping position when encountered by the respective coins borne by the carrier, and a member operatively connected to said coinengaging means for actuation thereby in response to their trip movements.

5. A coin-controlled device of the character described, comprising a revolvable coin-carrier having pockets in its periphery disposed in subf stantially staggered fashion for receiving of dinerent denominations with the coins pro-3 coins truding beyond the carrier-periphery, a plurality of levers disposed in adjoining relation to the definite predetermined relation for 'receiving' carrier and having portions overlying its periphery for selective bridging engagement withcertain of said coins, respectively, certain of said lever portions bridging one of the coin-pockets and others bridging two or more of the coin-u pockets, whereby tp operatively trip said levers,

ery. for vselective engagement with certain y.ofv said coins, respectively, whereby tooperativelyv I trip said levers, a member'operatively connected tosaid levers and actuated in response to'their tripmovements an electrictcircuit,4 and a. nory mally open switchv in said circuit. movable successively to` alternately closed and opened msnI -trippins movements tions in response to the coin 0i' said member.y

7. A. coin-controlled deviceotthe character. described, comprising a revolvable 'coin-carrier having pockets in its periphery disposed' in a coins of different denominations with the vcoins protruding beyond the carrier, disposed in operative relation with said carrier for bridg` ing relation with one or more oi' its pockets and adapted tov be successively tripped by the.

coins contained therein, a, member operatively connected to said means andactuated in respense to their trip movements, an electric motorfor revolving said vcarrierarid inclndinga switch for controlling the same, means for, closing said switch to operate the motor, and .means for effecting the automatic opening. oi saidl switch after a predetermined -travel of the carrier.

l8. A coin-controlled device 'oi the character described, comprising a revolvablecoin-carrier.

device o! the character switch, meansfior eil'ecting the automatic openhaving pockets in its periphery disposed in a definite predeteed relation for receiving. coins of diierent denominations with the coins protruding beyond the carrier, means disposed in l operative relation with said carrier and adapted 5 to be successively tripped by the coins contained therein, a member operatively connected tosaid means and actuated in response to their tripa ping movements, an electric motor .for revolving said carrier and including al switch for controlling the same, means for closing said switch to operate the motor, means for edecting the automatic ope oi said switch after a prei= determinedtravel of the carrier, 1. for latching the switch in open position, a multiple-slot 15- coin chute for guiding the coins to the respective carrier-pockets, and means operatively connected to said'switch-latching means'and rendered operative when there is more than one coin in any chute-slot to maintain said latching 2 0 means out of engagement with the switch.

9. A coin-controlled device of the characterv described. comprising a revolvable coin-carrier having pockets in its periphery disposed in va denite predetermined relation for receiving 2,5. coins 'of different denominations with the coins protruding beyond the carrier, means disposed in operative relation with said carrier and adapt- Y ed to be .successively tripped' by the coins con` v.ta.ine d'thereiii, iin-electric. motor' for revolvinggo H said carrier and including a switch ior con--4 trolling the same, a latch ior releasably retaining said switch in its open position, means for releasing saidlatchto 'eil'ect the `closing of said ing of said switch and its engagement with said latch after a predetermined travel of the car rier,y a multiple-slot coin chute for guiding the coins to the respective carrier-pockets, and means rendered operative'when there is more 40 than one coin in any chute-slot torprevent the latching of said switch in an open position.

`said preventing means including a coin-engaging element projectable into and out of the coin chute and having an operative connection to said latch for maintaining it out of latching engagement4 with the, switch under the aforesaid condition# .l v

. v H. OSBORNE. 

